By:- Suranjana Ghosh, Head – Marico Innovation Foundation
“Environmental challenges today are increasingly interconnected, spanning waste management, agriculture, clean technology and livelihoods. In India, this is particularly visible in the way agricultural residue, plastic waste and biomass continue to be treated as disposal challenges despite holding significant industrial and economic potential. India generates an estimated 350 million tonnes of agricultural waste annually, highlighting the scale of the opportunity to create value from resources that are often overlooked. Across sectors, we are seeing growing evidence that environmental challenges can be addressed through practical solutions.
Increasingly, sustainability is being viewed not only through the lens of conservation, but also as an opportunity to create economic value. From converting crop residue into sustainable materials, fuels and industrial inputs to developing waste-to-value technologies that strengthen recycling and recovery ecosystems, innovators are demonstrating how environmental challenges can be transformed into scalable solutions with long-term impact.
More than innovation itself, the challenge today is creating the right conditions for adoption. Access to markets, industry partnerships and implementation support will be critical to helping promising solutions achieve wider adoption and scale.
As World Environment Day 2026 brings climate action into sharper focus, the priority now is to turn innovation into measurable action. At Marico Innovation Foundation, we believe India does not lack innovative solutions. As India works towards building a $2 trillion circular economy that could create 10 million jobs by 2050, the focus must be on translating innovation into measurable outcomes that strengthen circularity, improve resource efficiency, and create long-term impact. Achieving this will require stronger collaboration between innovators, industry and institutions.”
